Everyone single one of us has learned about gender and/or sexuality from our family environment. The point is you learned something about gender and/or sexuality. You need to use the proper terms, concepts, and content from the textbook.
Textbook: The Real World, 8th edition by Kerry Ferris, Jill Stein
1. Social Force (1 Paragraph)
• Define gender and explain how it works as a social force in society, including a discussion on the
social construction of gender and the stratification of gender roles.
• When explaining gender, use data to support arguments. Data/research can be found in your course
textbook (required) as well as outside class material, such as peer-reviewed academic sources and
scholarly work.
2. Norm & Social Context: (1 Paragraph)
• Think of a time where you “learned a lesson” about gender or sexuality from your family. Explain
the social context of your example.
o What was your age? Who were you with? Where were you? etc.
o What happened? What did you do/witness?
• What norm was either broken or reinforced (taught)?
o What sanction(s) were received? Were they positive or negative?
o What was the agent of socialization? How were you taught this norm?
Remember, this needs to be a specific example/scenario, not just “My family thought this.” – show
me. Show me the scenario with your family, the norm, what was broken, what you witnessed, and
how it was taught/enforced.
3. Lesson & Impact: (1 Paragraph)
• What was the “lesson learned” about gender and/or sexuality? What did this experience teach
you? Be sure to discuss this lesson in terms of gender socialization and gender norms.
• What was the lasting impact on how you viewed or understood gender and/or sexuality? How did
this change or impact your concept of gender and/or sexuality to this day (positive or negative)?
• Be sure to include a summary discussion on gender as a social force in society (use textbook data
as needed).